Aerial mail exchange



April 22, 1930. 1.. 0. ASHLEY ET AL 1,755,235

AERIAL MAIL EXCHANGE Filed Nov. 15, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 6H0: neg

April 22, 1930. L. c. ASHLEY ET AL AERIAL MAIL EXCHANGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 15, 1927 35 ,Figure6 Patented Apr. 22, 1930 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUCY GHIOHESTER ASHLEY AND WILLIAM B. BAHN, OF OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA AERIAL MAIL EXCHANGE Application filed November 15, 1927. Serial No. 233,420.

This invention relates to aerial mail exchanges, and has particular reference to the provision of means whereby an aeroplane or other aircraft will be enabled to receive and dellver mail in pouches while in flight, thereby doing away with the necessity of making a landing for that purpose. 7

An ob ect of the invention is to provide a simple and practical device of the above kind which may be readily positioned in any convenient and desired location, and which may be readily manipulated and adjusted to meet the conditions of flight so as to greatly assist the pilot of the aeroplane in the transferring operation.

Other objects will become apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, and the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereingo after morefully described, shown in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

26 Figure 1 is a perspective view of an aerial mail exchange embodying our invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in side elevation, and partly in section on line 33 of Figure 2.

' Figure 4 is an enlarged detail elevations-ll view of the upper end of one of the masts.

Figure 5 is a vertical section on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

of Figure 5, and

Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the hook adapted to be suspended from the aeroplane for releasing and catching mail pouches.

Referring more 5 indicates a circular supporting base upon which is mounted a circular turntable 6, rigid with 'and'rising from opposite sides of which are a pair of hollow upright masts 7 having signalling and illuminating lamps 8 upon their upper ends.

Slidably retained in undercut grooves 9 provided in the' innersi'des of the mast 7 and extending substantially from top to bottom is a horizontal section on line 6'6 in detail tothe drawings,

of the latter, are plates 10 having wedge slots 11 therein which taper smaller in a downward direction, and attached to the upper ends of the slide plates 10 are cables 12 which pass upwardly over guide pulleys 13, journaled in the upper ends of the masts, and then pass downwardly through the latter and to a winding drum mounted, as at 14, upon the turntable 6 adjacent one of the-masts 7. The

turntable 6 has crossed bars 15 fastened thereon for reinforcing purposes, and the masts 7 are mounted upon the ends of one of these bars, which may be hollow as shown in Figure 3 to permit the cable 12 to pass thereunder from oneof the masts to the winding drum mounted adjacent the other mast.

Mounted upon the ends of the other bar 15 at the edge of the turntable and intermediate the masts 7 are relatively short posts 16, and supported at its corners by the masts 7 and posts 16 at a suitable elevation above the turntable 6 is a net 17 for receiving pouches of mail, as at 18, released from the aeroplane 19. while in flight. 1

The mail pouch shown at 20 is suitably at tached to a flexible rope sling or loop 21, op-

' posite portions of which are folded, as at 22,

and wedged downwardly in the slots 11 of I plates 10, whereby the mail pouch is 'sus pended from the masts with the loop spread to present a horizontal upper strand that may be readily engaged by the catching hook suspended from the aeroplane as will later become apparent.

' lower end of cable 23, is a compression spring 28. It will thus be seen that, regardless of the position of the hook. a bill thereof will be properly presented to engage the loop 21, and

due to the elastic connection between the hook and the cable, the shock of suddenly taking on the load will be eifectively cushioned. Any suitable means may be provided on the aeroplane to facilitate hoisting of the caught mail pouch into the same.

I In use, the cables 12 are unwound from the drum at 14 so as to lower the slide plates 10 to a point where an attendant may engage the folded portions 22 of the loop 21 in the wedge slots 11, whereupon, the cables are wound upon the drum to raise the slide plates and position the suspended mail pouch 20 at the required elevation. The turntable is then turned according to the direction of flight as governed by wind and other conditions so that the upper strand of loop 21 will be disposed in the path of the hook dropped from the aeroplane. Upon continued travel of ,the aeroplane after engagement of the hook with the loop, the folded portions 22 of the latter will be slightly lifted for complete release from the wedge slots 11 of plates 10, thereby insuring ready release of the load from the masts with little or no shock. The

masts will aid the pilot in selecting the proper path of travel to insure engagement of the hook with the loop, and by using the lamps 8, the pilot may be advised of the presence of-mail to beraught and the location of the exchange at night.

Each keeper arm 26 hasa finger 30 at its pivoted end, which projects into the shank 24 to engage the under side of a head 31 on the upper end of a plunger 32 which slidably projects throughthe lower end of shank 24 and has a lateral rigid catch arm 33 on its lower end provided with a socket to receive the free end of a hook 34 to hold it in upwardly swung position. The hook 34 is pivoted, as at 35, to the depending car 36 on thelower end of shank 24, and the plunger 32 is urged downwardly by a spring .37 to normally engage catch arm 33 with hook 34- tohold the latter raised for retaining. and suspending the mail pouch 18 to be delivered into the net .17. The spring 37 is mounted in shank 24 between the head 31 and a plug 38 secured in shank 24 below abutment 27 V and above the plunger head 31. It. will thus be seen that when a keeper arm 26 strikes the rope 21 to take on the pouch 20, said armwill be-swung to raise plunger 32 and release catch arm 33 fromhook 34, thereby allowing hook 34 to swing downwardly and re ease. pouch .18 at a time when it will .be directly above net 17 and not such a great distance therefro s .to permit of the pouch falling clear of t h e net or falling with. destructive force. Y

f What we claim as new 15: I 1. An aerial. mail exchange 'comprlsmg a a turntable having a pair of upright masts mounted on opposite sides thereof, means associated with the masts for holding a mail embodying slides vertically movable on the masts, hoisting means for raising and lowering said slides, said mastshaving undercut grooves in the inner sides t ereof, and said shdes embodying plates slida l'y held in said grooves and having wedge slots therein, said hoisting means embodying a winding drum mounted on the turntable adgacent one'of the masts, and cables attached to the slides and extending through the masts and to said drum.

3. An aerial mail transferring device for aeroplanes comprising in combination, a

support, a pair of vertical masts mounted on the support, the inner opposed sides of the masts being formed with longitudinally extending slots, a plate arranged for slidable movement in each slot, each plate being formed with a wedge-shaped slot, a mail bag carrying-loop disposed transversely between the masts, the opposite ends of the loop being wedged in the respective wedge-shaped slot and adapted to be forcibly disengaged therefrom, and means for raising and lowering the slidable plates.

4. -AIl aerial mail transferring device for aeroplanes comprising in combination, a support, a pair of vertical masts mounted on the support, the inner opposed sides of the masts being formed with longitudinally extending slots, a plate arranged for slidable movement in each slot, each plate being formed with a wedge-shaped slot, a-mail bag carrying loop disposed transversely between the masts,

the opposite ends of the loop being Svedged in the respective wedge-shaped slot' and adapted to be forcibly disengaged therefrom,

able plates, s aid last-mentioned means c'om-' prising a cable secured at one end to'the up L per end of each plate, apulley arranged; in each 'mast at the upper end thereof. over which the respective ca le is-tr'ained, and a winding drum mountedon the support and towhi'cli the other tachedi TV In testimony whereof we affix our-signatures.

ends of the cablesare at, i

LUCY CHICHESTER A sH Y;

WILLIAM B. BAHN.

115 and means for ralslng and lowerlng the sl1d-- 

